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Denise and I love the hectic pace of the holiday season. Starting with the turkey and ending with a toast in January, the chaos creates great memories. Our adult children (is that an oxymoron?) have a different vision of what the holiday should look like and we respect that, although we may not always like it. It would be sooo much easier if they would just do as Denise and I want. At our daughter-in-law's suggestion, we went on a family outing to the Queen Mary Haunted House and it was a blast. Kyle/Sarah, Jarad/Megan and Ed/Denise took turns leading the way through the scary mazes. Son Brett is back in Baghdad and we are now able to "see" him nearly every weekend by using Skype. We are so proud of ourselves for our use of technology, but the adult children (I think it is an oxymoron) still laugh at our skill level. Finally, I've been getting some physical therapy from Ben, a Kaiser PT, who happens to be a Chino Hills resident. Our sessions have been a lot of "fun".
1. The owner of a medical marijuana clinic wanted to open a storefront in CH. The city would not approve so he decided to up the ante and offered the following: "We're prepared to give the City a tax revenue rate of 6% (instead of 1%). At the end of the year that equates to about $200,000." We refused to budge, and now the actions of the Federal government to stop the clinics have proven us right. BTW, you can do the math and figure out how much is made in that business.
2. October has been a surprising month for those of us dealing with the CA Public Utilities Commission and the towers of SCE. At the beginning of the month the city sponsored a Town Hall meeting to discuss the recent events surrounding the SCE/CPUC project. Since the towers have gone up, we have been harping on the CPUC to come see what their decision has wrought. Because of an intensive campaign by Hope for the Hills residents, and lobbying by others, our city manager and I had an extraordinary 30-minute meeting with the CPUC President in his office. After that he agreed to visit and brought along some of his staff to tour the towers through our community. The following week another Commissioner came out to scrutinize what his decision has created. I believe that both members found their decision to have created a problem in our city. Most importantly, we need to keep the pressure up with an email and letter campaign to decision makers like the CPUC. Go to Hope for the Hills website to pull the information. More importantly, please be professional and not virulent in your remarks to them. They know we are angry. We need ALL residents to help put a "face' on the issue because the volume of emails and letters does matter. I have more to say at my "Message from the Mayor" video on our city website. BTW, I am still waiting for the Governor to call me back.
3. Our Public Works employees really stepped up to honor a family and soldier that attended CH High. They heard the family had difficulty getting a banner and decided to purchase one for them. Impressive.
4. My campaign to rename Crossroads Park to honor our armed forces was derailed at the council meeting. I frankly was shocked that Norton-Perry and Kruger refused to offer a 3rd vote for the renaming. (Rogers was a "yes", Bennett was absent). Norton-Perry stated basically the $20 - $30K price tag was too much. Kruger wanted to MacGyver the current sign to save the money. For me, we need to recognize our vets without having to do a special fundraiser or cake sales. It's a city park that recognizes what those before have done, and those that follow will do. The price tag for the renaming should be the obligation of the city. Other amenities to add to the park could be left to cake and magazine sales, but the name of the park rests on the city government.
5. A new "Message from the Mayor" is now posted at the city website and on TV. It deals with those SCE towers.
6. The owner of Johnny Rockets, Jennifer Rudin, has a passion for dogs and a heart for cancer patients. She organized "Bark 4 Life" an anti-cancer event for dogs and those of us on two feet. I mentioned at the opening ceremony that so many owners looked like their dog"¦ scary. PS"¦no cats in sight that day.
7. Our Community Foundation held an extremely successful inaugural "CH Wine Walk". Over 550 people attended the event, which was held at the Shoppes on a Saturday evening. I had a storefront with Assemblyman Hagman/Supervisor Ovitt and we served a popular zin paired with sushi from RA.
8. The Planning Commission reviewed two tree ordinances: one that addresses trees on private property and one that addresses City trees on City property and easements. Both ordinances contain language encouraging proper tree maintenance, which includes trimming. The private property tree ordinance will only protect Native trees (California Sycamore, California Live Oak, California Black Walnut, Coastal Scrub Oak) and Heritage trees (healthy trees with a diameter of at least 44 inches). The main objective of the private property tree ordinance was to protect healthy Native and Heritage Trees from being removed without a defined process. The ordinances will continue the review process with the Planning and Parks and Rec Commissions. A recommendation will eventually be forwarded to Council for discussion.
9. Chino Hills achieved national recognition last month as one of America's Alliance "100 Best Communities for Young People" presented by ING for its initiatives to help young people. The competition recognizes communities across the country that focus on reducing high school dropout rates and providing service and support to their youth. We are a first-time 100 Best Community because we have paid special attention to the most at-risk young people with programs that encourage students to live healthy and stay in school, like our Youth Accountability Board and Mobile Recreation Programs. We also have a committee, CA Healthy Cities, which helps improve the quality of life for all community members by addressing complex social, physical and environmental health problems. "Chino Hills' initiatives inspire other communities across the nation to take action to solve the challenges facing their young people," said Marguerite W. Kondracke, America's Alliance CEO. "Chino Hills is especially deserving of this recognition due to their efforts to ensure that their young people graduate high school and go on to lead healthy, productive lives. They are helping their youth prosper and become contributing members of society." We will receive a $2,500 grant for signage identifying the community as one of the nation's 100 Best Communities for Young People.
10. Our Friends of the Library held a successful fundraiser at the library. They are continuing to sell a cookbook with recipes from the Friends membership. It's an easy way to get some more home recipes for the holidays. I bought two books and more are available.
11. CA State Controller John Chiang was in our city to present his ""restaurant business and taxes seminar". About 75 restaurateurs attended.
12. I am happy (?) to report California is much closer to being a better place as the state legislature sent the Governor 897 new laws to sign. He ended up signing 769 new laws and vetoed 128.
13. For years there has been a park in our Capital Master Plan that has never been built and looks like it won't in the near term. It's nickname is the "pit park' since it is located in the back portion of an undeveloped commercial project that borders the 71 freeway and BR Road, across the street from the Butterfield Ranch Fire Station. The developer did not have to construct a park and instead was required to give the City $1.2M to satisfy his park requirement. We have a conceptual park design. But the amount is clearly not sufficient to construct the park, and when Prop 218 passed in 1996, the city lost the ability to increase the L&L fees to even maintain a park there. The L&L that includes this park is upside down and receives support from the General Fund. I always thought it would be built but based upon the economy it doesn't look positive.
14. In the CH Police station lobby is a secure Prescription Take-back Program Drop off box drop. Instead of throwing unused pills away or flushing them, just bring them in so we don't harm our environment further.
15. A free household hazardous waste collection, open to CH residents, is available the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month 8am to 1pm at the Chino City Public Works yard at 5050 Schaefer Ave. These services are FREE for San Bernardino County residents only. Your containers must be sound, not leaking and sealed. The amount of waste cannot exceed 15 gallons or 125 pounds. http://www.sbcfire.org/hazmat/hhwcollection.asp
16. Councilman Peter Rogers and I attended a presentation from regional planners who want to build an elevated truck freeway from the LA ports, up the 710, along the 60 and spill out onto the 57. The rest of the plan of using the 60 or 10 to get these trucks out to the warehouses to the east of us is not up for discussion yet. However, the council took a stand to protest the use of the 60 freeway for an elevated truck freeway since that would come with another host of problems.
17. A makeshift parking lot was developing on the Pine Ave Bridge over the 71 with cars being left during the day. It also became a place to dump trash. Tickets were issued and the problem dissipated.
18. Years ago the original 71 landscape was funded and planted by SanBag, the regional transportation agency. YES, that project sucked. (BTW, I am now on that board) Within the past several months all of us have seen the numerous trees planted, with its corresponding irrigation systems, along the eight-mile corridor of the 71 stretching fr
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